Player Whoever makes the largest wager on the player's
side of the table. Player Hand The player's hand is
a two- or three-card total which pays off any wagers
bet on its success at 1 to 1, should it be closer
to a total of 9 than the player's hand.

Punto The "player."
Push This occurs when hands tie, so bets on the player
or banker hand are void.
Rules of Play The rules determining draws a third
card.
Scorecards See "tally sheets."
Shill An employee of the casino who sits at a gaming
table posing as a gambler in order to encourage visitors
to join in the games.

Shoe The box into which the cards are placed after
being shuffled and cut, and from which they are taken
during the games.

Streak Any series of repeated wins by either the banker
or player.

Tally Sheets Sheets of lined paper or a card provided
so that players may record the fall of cards and their
wins and losses.

Tie When the value of the banker hand equals the player
hand. All bets on the banker or player are considered
a push when this happens.

Tie Bet In Punto Banco and mini-Online Baccarat Games,
a bet that the deal will produce a tie between the
player and banker hands. The house pays out at 8 to
1 if a tie results.

Yet
another potential method for cheating is the "ace
up the sleeve," where a player has extra cards
in his possession and attempts to place those cards
in his hand at opportune times. He can obtain these
cards by retaining them when folding a prior hand.
The exchange would involve some sleight of hand, but
wouldn't require a magician's skill to get away with
it, especially in a party setting. This tactic can
be offset by simply verifying that players turn in
the same number of cards as they're dealt, which is
easy in the straight-up games that I describe in this
book. Also, you should periodically count the deck
to make sure it contains all fifty-two cards. All
this should be a matter of routine, not only as protection
against cheating, but to check for honest misplacement
of cards.